Time
by Blue embers
Summary: As time goes by things change. Wonderlandians have little to no understanding of this concept.


Well this is my first story. I really hope it isn't too bad. If you see a mistake, please tell me. I want to use to improve my writing skills!

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Despite the immense amounts of watches and clocks in Wonderland the Wonderlandians themselves were never very good at keeping track of time. True many of their clocks didn't work, (for that blame should rest solely on the Mad Hatter and his miracle mustard) but even if they had worked, even if they had kept time perfectly the haziness of time that surrounded Wonderland would be the same.

The quirky inhabitants went about there days the same as always. Never aging, never changing. The few that did remember Alice couldn't recall just how long she'd been gone. Maybe just a few days, maybe just a week or so, or maybe several months. No one was really sure and no one really dwelled on the sudden absence of their creator.

No one that is except for The Cheshire Cat.

Just as mad as the rest he hadn't a clue of how much time had passed since he had last given Alice kooky directions.

What unsettled the peculiar cat the most was the lack of change in Wonderland. Alice was a growing girl with an ever changing imagination. Wonderland and the inhabitants were to change too. Yet Cheshire couldn't recall any changes to their world or seeing any new faces bumbling around Tulgey Woods.

It was a shame really, Cheshire liked surprises which was something Alice always brought with her when she entered her Wonderland.

Like the other residents that morning Cheshire awoke to see a vastly different world. And just like the others the cracked cat barely noticed the changes. The trees were yellow today, and the a good part of the path was a vivid blue. The air smelled of lilies, and the sky had a purple tent to it. It wasn't until he pasted an unfamiliar area on his way to The Mad Hatter's did he notice a change.

Taking off his head (he thought better that way) the cat tried to recall this place. Try as he might he couldn't remember a slowly flowing river ever being here. Neither did he remember lilies ever growing in Wonderland yet today they filled this strange new area.

Grinning with realization he popped his head back on with an excited shiver of his tail. Alice was back! Even after he disappeared only to reappear in an area he thought Alice was likely to pass he still didn't realize that he himself had changed. If he had noticed he would have probably been upset. Pink and purple were two of his favorite colors. Now instead he was a turquoise cat with well-defined black stripes, and bright yellow eyes.

Sooner than later a small girl wondered by. A small girl that definitely wasn't Alice.

Deciding it would be best to spook this new stranger Cheshire disappeared only to reappear before the frightened brunette with a cockeyed smile.

Instead of screaming or running away the child seemed relieved to see. "Why, you're just a cat..." She sighed in relief just as Alice once did. She flipped her messy ponytail over her shoulder as she hesitantly reached out to touch the oddly colored feline.

"A Cheshire Cat," he corrected before floating back up to the trees. "And you're just a...?"

"Oh! I'm just a Lily," the girl dressed in yellow and white curtsied, her dark brown eyes shying down to the ground politely.

Unimpressed, "I've never seen a Lily with such pathetic petals. Did the flowers kick you out of their bed? You are rather unsightly for a flower,"

"I meant to say my _name_ is Lily, and I'm a human," she tried to say evenly. Obviously struggling with her temper. Like Alice this youth seemed to have a bit of a temper, unlike Alice she seemed less capable of controlling it.

"Well that's not what you said. You said you are a Lily, and as you should always know you are to always say what you mean not what you said or it can get rather confusing. Do you know what I mean?"

"Look here Mr. Cat," the nine year old wagged her finger fiercely at the cat perched in the tree, "I've had enough of this demented little world and I wish to get home."

"Well..you can always go ask the Queen."

"A Queen! You mean there is a Queen ruling over this bizarre little place? I must see her. How do I reach her?"

"You walk," Cheshire smiled while Lily glared. After a long silence he pulled a branch, "You walk this way,"

Looking down at his sortcut through the tree Cheshire didn't remember the castle being so grand or the garden full of so many different flowers.

After carefully looking through the portal Lily gave the cat a halfhearted smile. "Thank you, Mr. Cat," before entering leaving him all alone.

Cheshire wasn't the only one to meet Lily that day. She had already ran into the White (now Brown Rabbit) several times, she had encountered the dumb twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee (now maybe even more dumb than before) and she had already partied with The Mad Hatter and The March Hare. That was until their new Tulgey Cat awoke and wrecked havoc on their Unbirthday Party.

Cheshire was smarter than the rest but he was still a nonsensical cat dreamed up by Alice, and as such he didn't notice many of the big changes in the world, or in himself and others.

Soon he and the others forgot Alice ever existed. It was now, and had always been if you asked any of them, Lily's Wonderland.

Lily Marie Liddell-Adams.

Despite the immense amounts of watches and clocks in Wonderland the Wonderlandians themselves were never very good at keeping track of time.

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So yes, Alice is gone and her daughter or granddaughter Lily is the new keeper of Wonderland, and I wanted parts of Wonderland to be immortal but change with each new child to fit their imagination. I also wanted the Wonderlandians like Cheshire to be fairly innocent and, naive, and not realize the full truth of their own creation or retain any memories of there past creator. In a scene each time a new Liddell child enters Wonderland it will trigger a start over for the place so Wonderland will forever change but forever stay the same in some sense.

So yeah...Like the idea? Hate the idea? Like the story? Hate the story? Please let me know, and I'd also appreciate any eagle eyed readers letting me know about any mistakes!


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